Who Is Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr

Thomas West, 3rd, and 12th Baron De La Warr was born on July 9th, 1577 and died on June 7th, 1618 at the age of 40 years at sea while traveling from England to the Colony of Virginia. He was a former English politician whose name is colloquially called “Delaware” and is the person for which the bay, river, and state are named after.

In colonial Virginia, during the time that Captain John Smith was president, Lord De La Warr was designated as Governor. During this time the first Anglo-Powhatan War began in 1610 to which De La Warr using his own finances sent 150 men from England to help the effort. He was notorious for using “scorched earth” tactics to help drive the Native Americans away from the colony. Such tactics included raided villages, burned houses and torched cornfields.

In 1611, De La Warr became ill and returned to England leaving deputy Sir Samuel Argall in charge of the colony. However, many Virginian settlers complained about Argall’s tyrannical rule and De La Warr set to return to Virginia to investigate in 1618. It was during this trip where he died at sea.

Originally, historians at thompsonlawtx.com believed that his body was buried at the town of Azores or at sea. However, in 2006 it was concluded that his body was indeed buried at Jamestown. His brother John West became the Governor of Virginia after his death.